The University accepted nearly the same percentage of applicants as last year, a stark contrast to a nationwide trend of lower college admission rates.

The admissions office sent its decisions to thousands of high school seniors last week. Kathy Napper, the executive dean for admissions, said GW received more than 19,300 applications and admitted 6,750 students. Once the University accepts applicants from the waitlist, Napper said she expects the admit rate to be about 36 percent – the same as last year.

The number of applications was almost on par with 2007, with about several hundred fewer this year. The number of early decision I applicants dropped by 6 percent, and early decision II applicants dropped by 15 percent.

The University predicts that about 2,350 students will accept its offer and attend. Napper said GW determines this number, the yield rate, by reviewing enrollment data from previous years and considering “the economic and competitive environment at hand.”

Many of the most competitive colleges had record-low acceptance rates this year. Harvard, Yale and Columbia universities all admitted fewer than 10 percent of applicants. Georgetown had a record-low acceptance rate at 18 percent.

New York University – considered a similar institution, or “market basket” school, by GW – accepted 24 percent of applicants, a staggering 8 percent decrease from last year.

The University posted its admissions decisions online and mailed formal acceptance packages to admitted students last Wednesday.

Michele Walk, a high school senior from Massachusetts, said she heard of her acceptance to the Elliott School of International Affairs last week. Walk applied to 19 colleges and said she got rejected from some of her top choices.

“I think it was definitely harder to get into any school this year,” she said. She is “95 percent sure” that she will be enrolling at GW, especially after hearing about some of the famous alumni.

“Since I’ve gotten in, I’ve found out it’s really, really amazing,” she said.

There was a 20 percent increase in the number of international applications this year, leading GW to admit a record 8 percent of international students. Napper said they focused more heavily on overseas recruitment this past year.

A record 9 percent of admitted students consider themselves African American, 12 percent are Asian American and 9 percent are Latino. Twenty percent did not state their background.

Close to 40 percent of admitted students are from the Mid-Atlantic region, 16 percent are from New England and 15 percent are from the South. Thirteen percent of students come from the Western and Mountain States, and 9 percent hail from the Midwest.

The University offers five accepted student visiting dates in April, and Napper said she expects 3,000 of the admitted students will visit this month.

In March, GW offered tours specifically for multicultural students and engineering students. Students who visited learned about financial aid, attended classes, spoke with administrators and met alumni.